What We Never Had
by Anniz's Shoe
Summary: [GaaHina] He questions. She answers. He teaches. She learns. He searches. She pines. The confusion. Their realisation. He waits. She waits. A Gaara x Hinata fic.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This fic is written by **annizmon** and **mI.ShOE**. Enjoy:)

Standard Disclaimers Apply

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_. : . : Chapter 1 : . : ._

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_A body possessed by the incarnation of sand..._

_killed the woman whom he would have called mother..._

_Fighting only for his own sake... _

_Loving no one but himself ..._

_As long as there is mankind for him to kill..._

_And then..._

_It all changed..._

_Hope came back again..._

_Now..._

_The soul searches for its answer..._

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"Hinata-chan!" 

An all-too-familiar voice rang throughout the room. Hinata bit her bottom lip and ignored her body's protests and tried to sit up. She succeeded in getting to a half-sitting position and leaned back into the soft pillows to seek for comfort.

A few nurses smiled at the orange blur that scooted across the room to reach Hinata's bedside. They picked up their charts and exited the room, leaving the two to themselves.

A wide, foxy grin came into view.

"N-Naruto-kun."

A smile adorned her face as she greeted the blond ninja back. Heat rose up to her cheeks, turning them a pretty pink, and a few rebellious strands of hair slipped down from her ears to cover her eyes.

"How are you?"

Naruto plopped down onto a chair and gazed at Hinata fondly, noticing her blush. He scratched the back of his head at the sight. Why did Hinata always blush whenever she sees him?

The thoughts disappeared as fast as they came, and Naruto moved closer to the bed, straining his ears to make out what Hinata was saying when he saw her mouth move.

"I'm f-fine, Naruto-kun..." Her voice trailed off to slightly above a whisper when she reached the end, and her heart thumped wildly against her chest.

Hinata poked her fingers and turned her gaze to them, as if they were the most interesting thing in the world that moment. She could feel warmth radiating from the body of the boy beside her. Her blush increased ten-fold-if that was ever possible-and she pressed her lips tightly together to hide her nervousness.

Naruto, completely unaware of her predicament, continued assaulting her with questions. She welcomed them; enjoying the sound of his cherry voice that never fails to cover her in a blanket of warmth, though she found it hard to answer him, due to her constant stuttering.

A pair of turquoise eyes; hidden in shadows, were fixed onto the unsuspecting duo, its stare immense and piercing.

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In one single leap, strong and fluid, Gaara left the tree he was hiding in and his feet touched the ground. His eyes narrowed and turned a darker shade at the memory of how intimately Naruto had conversed with Hinata, and how much she had enjoyed it. 

There was this sudden urge to engulf Naruto in his sand. How he would love to hear him scream for mercy while drowning in a sea of sand...

He didn't know where that came from, and was shocked; for a split second, that his old sadistic self would surface again and that such a thought could cross his mind.

He closed his eyes and calmed his nerves. Steadying his breathing, he reasoned to himself.

He owned that blond idiot too much. Even if everyone thought that he was a monster, Gaara still had enough human in him to want to repay his savior.

But not by giving up Hinata. Not over his dead body.

Another frown marked his features and he froze in his moments, dumbfounded by his thoughts. Why was he so concerned and possessive about that Hyuuga girl, now? Ever since their first meeting alone...

Closing his eyes and shaking his head slightly, he dispelled all images of a certain indigo-haired, fair-flawless-skin and milky-eyed girl. His hands formed a few hand seals and he disappeared in a cloud of sand.

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"N-Naruto-kun, I-I... Um... T-That i-is..." 

Beads of perspiration formed on Hinata's forehead. She was having such a difficult time trying to answer Naruto. Why was she so shy? Why can't she be like the other girls, that could find no difficulty talking to the boys they had a crush on?

Her tongue darted out and she licked her dry lips before attempting to speak again. A resounding bang interrupted her sentence and broke the rising tension in the room.

Gaara entered the room and locked his eyes with Hinata while giving her a nod. He did not bother to greet the other ninja present in the room, who had shouted an awfully loud (that was what he thought) "Hi Gaara!"

He had initially planned to appear in the room in a single and simple jutsu, but had decided against it, remembering how Hinata disliked rudeness. Instead, he had gone through the trouble of having to knock and open the door.

Apparently, no one had noticed that he was already in the room for close to ten seconds since he had stepped into it, and so he slammed the door shut to get Naruto's and Hinata's attention.

And how could he miss the strange atmosphere that was present in the room? He told himself to save that thought for later, and focused his attention on the girl inside the room.

Hinata saw Gaara, she gave him a smile.

"Hi, Gaara-san. Thank you for visiting me."

This time round, she said it without a stutter.

Gaara gave another slight nod in response, and voiced out his questions,

"Why are you injured again? Was it your cousin?"

There was a prominent tone of distaste when he mentioned Neji. Gaara bore his eyes into Hinata's, awaiting her reply and to see if she had any difficulties answering.

Although he was not good at reading the minds of others, Gaara could know instantly what Hinata was thinking of when he searched her eyes. They were much too transparent.

"Ah! No! It wasn't Neji-niisan!"

Hinata shook her head forcefully in denial. She didn't want Gaara to misunderstand her cousin. After taking in a deep breath, she continued,

"Neji-niisan and I had made up. He was the one who brought me here. I was picking some herbs from the spice garden and did not realised that there was a poisonous snake behind me, and thus was bitten by it."

She panted slightly after saying so much at one go.

Gaara observed Hinata carefully when she made her speech. There was a warm tone to her voice when she talked about Neji, and from her clear, white eyes, he could tell that what Hinata had said was all true.

He felt... something stir deep within him when he noticed that Hinata did not stutter when she talked to him. So... She wasn't afraid of him, and was at ease when he was around...

But she had stuttered when she chatted with Naruto...

Dissolving all unpleasant thoughts, Gaara spoke in a monotone, his sentence directed at only Hinata,

"Its stuffy here and you need some sun and exercise. Why don't we go outside?"

After seeing the smile on Hinata's face, he turned his head to face Naruto and glared his infamous glare at him. His eyes were screaming for Naruto to get lost so as to allow him to spend some time alone with Hinata.

Oblivious, dense and with a skull ten inches thick, Naruto-not surprisingly-did not take the hint. But he exclaimed in his ever-loud voice,

"Ah! I forgot I have to meet up with Iruka-sensei! Bye, Hinata-chan, Gaara!"

He ran out of the room without a second glance back.

Hinata's head was lowered; disappointed for a moment that she could not spend more time with Naruto. Her actions did not go unnoticed by Gaara, and he balled his fists in repulse to the anger that he felt.

He saw her raise her head up again to meet his gaze, looking at him with those pearl orbs, and smiling that soft smile that he wouldn't mind looking at for the rest of his life. Something tugged at somewhere inside the left part of his chest that instant.

Hinata slipped on a sweater and got off the bed. With another smile, this time more wide and radiant, she announced,

"Let's go, Gaara-san?"

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_. : . : End of Chapter 1 : . : ._

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A/N: (mI.ShOE)- Go, Gaara-kun! (cheers wildly.) There! The first chapter is up! We left a lot of room for plot development! (grins) Review! XD 

(annizmon)-Way to go, Hinata-chan. Hope you readers like our 1st chapter.

Review, Review, Review! (Chants.)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

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_. : . : Chapter 2 : . : ._

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With a contented smile on her face, Hinata stretched her arms up high and breathed in a lungful of fresh air. 

It was so good to be outside again, to feel the sun kissing her skin. She had been confined to the hospital for about 5 days so as to allow the medic-nins to monitor her condition, and it was only this morning when they had deemed it safe for her to go outside.

Gaara walked by her side silently, acting unaffected by Hinata's good mood. He did feel comfortable seeing her in such high spirits. Though he would never admit that.

He was labeled a _monster_, remember?

Brushing off the irritating thoughts, (seriously, he thinks way too much for his own good) he led Hinata to a garden near the hospital.

The flowers were in full bloom, the leaves in the dense trees were doing waltzes with the breeze, and children; with gleeful smiles, darted around the shrub mazes.

The two found a bench at a corner of the garden and sat down a it. Enjoying the soothing atmosphere that the garden provided, they sunk into their own thoughts and moments of comfortable silence ensued.

The minutes slipped by, and eventually, Gaara turned his attention to the girl beside him, and observed her.

She was looking at a group of children playing hide-and-seek, with their parents smiling at how much fun they had while reminding them not to hurt themselves. Although it was small, Gaara could see a tinge of sadness in Hinata's eyes.

"Hinata, are you thirsty, I can get you a drink."

Gaara thought of something to say to break Hinata's thoughts.

Hinata shook her lightly and smiled at Gaara, maintaining an eye contact with him.

"Thank you, Gaara-san, but you don't have to go. I am not thirsty."

Her eyes narrowed as she thought of something, and asked,

"Neji-niisan says he will be coming to visit me today. I hope that he would not be worried if he cannot find me..."

A slight pout was added to her face as she thought of her over-protective cousin. But it soon melted away into a smile, happy that Neji cared for her.

"Are you afraid that Neji would inform the Leaf authorities when he can't find you?"

Since Hinata had told her that Neji and her had made up, Gaara had thought if Neji was protective towards Hinata. Hearing her remark about Neji, Gaara thought that there was a high possibility for Neji to do what Gaara had just said.

Hinata laughed at this, covering her dainty palm over her mouth.

Seeing Hinata smile again, Gaara relaxed and leaned back onto the bench. After a while, he asked,

"Do you remember the first time i saved... some... thing?" Gaara turned his head to face Hinata.

That was one of many of his precious memories with Hinata. She would never suspect what great an impact she had in his life.

Hinata looked confused for a while, but her eyes lit up when she remembered that particular incident.

She giggled and replied,

"The correct term should be a 'bird', Gaara-san."

**Flashback **

It was a sunny and bright morning. Birds were singing and chirping in melody in their nests. Parenting birds flew to and fro from their nests to feed their babies. Hinata, being a nature-lover, loved this scenery.

There were a lot of hatchings that year, and so there were small birds having their first flight. Some tried to fly but failed and after several tries, they took off high into the skies, spreading their wings wide and savoring their flight.

Hinata and Gaara were outside the Hyuuga compound having a conversation when a hatching fell onto the ground with a soft 'thud'.

"Ahh!"

Hinata exclaimed, breaking off her speech when she saw that the bird's right leg was twisted at an odd angle. She took out her first-aid kit and crouched down onto a soft patch of grass.

Gaara saw Hinata's actions and frowned. He squatted down beside her and said in an empty voice,

"Why save it. It is better to kill it. This way it's suffering will end and wouldn't it be better for it to go to heaven?"

The dark red, viscous liquid tainted the grass and it was awakening the demon inside Gaara.

"You know what? I'll do a favour and end its misery in a second."

His pulse raced and his breathing hitched in his throat. Sand rose from the ground and formed the shape of a giant claw and eased towards the small, almost lifeless form.

"No!"

Hinata picked up the bird, cradled it in her arms, and ran a few metres away. She was horrified by the unsettling gaze in Gaara's eyes.

"Hinata..." Gaara growled, his voice deep and dark and menacing.

"No, you are not killing it!"

Tears leaked out of her eyes. She did not know why Gaara was acting this way. Didn't he know that life is precious? She did not like the unusual gleam in his eyes.

"If you want to kill the bird, you will have to get through me first."

She said this softly as droplets of tears fell, and she huddled the bird closer to her body.

_If one's heartbeat is still beating, one is alive..._

_If ones' heartbeat is not beating, then one has died..._

_If ones' heartbeat is beating weakly, one must overcome it and one will live..._

_If not it will die..._

The tiny body was warm. She could feel it. Feel it struggling; fighting with death. It was still holding on. Hinata approached Gaara slowly.

Gaara head began to throb. Memories came back, and the pain and loneliness he had felt washed over him like a giant wave.

Why was she protecting it? Why was she trying so hard?

He dug his hands into his hair and tried to hold on to his sanity. That was when he felt a warm palm close over his. He looked up and saw Hinata's comforting smile.

"Help me save its life, Gaara-san?"

**(End of Flashback)**

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A life. He had saved a life. He had always killed until then, never realising the importance of a life. 

He still remembered feeling the faint heartbeat in his palms; the slight trembles. He remembered how he had retrieved water from a nearby river and washed its wound.

He could still see Hinata's smile now, as she applied some ointment onto the wound and bandaged its leg.

He remembered, days later, seeing the bird lift its wings, and soaring off into the air.

He could remember his heart swelling, filling up. It wasn't empty.

And he remembered that the corners of his mouth had twitched ever so slightly.

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_. : . : End of Chapter 2 : . : ._

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A/N: Annizmon: Finished with the second chapter... Yeah... 

mI.ShOE: hehe. I love the drama. :) More flashbacks to come!

Until then, review!


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